Titanium HX Windscreen for Canister stoves

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

Why not just spot weld the fins to the mug?

[JCH]

Should have known that Roger solved the problem in the simplest, most straightforward way possible :)

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

No welding required. Pot is “press fit” into windscreen. It’s so tight, Jon would not be able to get it apart. :-)

Was I right JCH?

[JCH]

CertInly appears that way Dan :)

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

Simplicity: what you need when you find a tent site in a storm and collapse inside :)Cheers

My jetboiler is “simplicity” I have a simple remote canister stove that will pair up nicely with it, see it in this short video, disregard the noise :)

[Roger Caffin]

Why not just spot weld the fins to the mug?
One reason why not is that trying to spot weld Ti to Ti (or Ti to Al) is simply not possible unless you have a very complex (=$$) welding system. The tenacious oxide layer gets in the way. I think vacuum welding works if you strip the oxide layer off. There are plenty of scientific and technical papers on this.

Incidentally, that was part of the problem for the early Jetboil pots: they thought they had mastered spot welding Al fins to Ti pots, but it turned out otherwise. So the Al fins had a habit of melting.

I spent some time trying to spot weld Ti to Ti myself. Eventually I realised that all I was doing was creating mechanical lumps which interlocked poorly; there was zero actual metal to metal connection. The oxide layers persisted between the lumps. The welds fell apart rather easily.

Cheers

[obx hiker]

Dan are you going to do another video? Or do you have a photo with the pot/hx screen on the stove?

I guess one could add a wire handle by drilling a hold in those w foldaway wing handles?

How does one operate the stove?

Ohhh me of little vision!   PS it looks like a really good design and sure solves the storage and deployment issues.

Ohh nevermind. I wrote the question after stopping for a bite to eat and forgot to refresh so you answered the questions before I asked them. More clever design! ;)

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

I guess that I am lucky, I routinely spot weld Ti to Ti.  Then again, I am mainly dealing with CP Grade 2.  My 2 cents.

[DAN-Y/FANCEE FEEST]

I have a huge house project going on, super busy, won’t be posting till end of August.

Patent search being made on the new jetboiler. It has potential ;)

[James Marco]

Dan, when will these be for sale? I really like the screen, but need it to cover a 5-1/4″ grease pot.

My pot is less than 3.5oz including lid and bail for 1quart capacity and works for two people. Though, three 10oz cups in the morning is perfect, solo.  I never really worried about putting the wind screen/stove in the pot…it’s used as a sack for my tarp. I just roll it up every day and slip it into my pocket.

I am not sure you can patent that, there are literally thousands of designs for heat exchangers. ‘Corse, you might sell it to the Chinese. They like that stuff.

 

 

[Roger Caffin]

Patents are relatively useless UNLESS you can afford a lot of Patent Lawyer. Not, mind you, that Asia takes any notice of US patents.

A very expensive US Patent Lawyer once advised me to skip the patenting and just keep innovating faster than ‘they’ could copy me.

Cheers

[JCH]

A very expensive US Patent Lawyer once advised me to skip the patenting and just keep innovating faster than ‘they’ could copy me.

Roger, If you are prolific enough to outpace a country (several countries?) full of companies content to copy the ideas of others, then more power to you :)

From what I’ve seen of the copies they are usually of low to middling quality.  I tend to prioritize quality over price.  “Vote with your wallet”, “Buy once, cry once” and all that.  I also gravitate to small or cottage manufacturers (and a select few larger companies) who love what they do, hand-make and attempt to produce the best products they can.

I hope it is financially viable for those companies to focus on producing a very high quality product for those who appreciate that. Leave the rest of the market to the bottom feeders (pejorative characterization, yes).

[Roger Caffin]

If you are prolific enough to outpace a country (several countries?) full of companies content to copy the ideas of others, then more power to you :)
However … that is not how it works. You are absolutely NOT competing against a whole country. You may be competing against a small cottage company or a large conglomerate.

In the case of large conglomerates, my experience is that it is very easy to stay a long way ahead of them. Large conglomerates move very slowly, pass all designs through several committees, lawyers, accountants, marketing guys, and generally cannot innovate worth a crumpet. I can cite specific instances with stoves and tents where this is glaringly obvious.

Against small companies you have to work a bit harder, IF they have a good designer and IF they let him run. This does not always happen. In fact, I have known very few really good designers in my times, and I have learnt from them.

It is not that hard.

Cheers

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

IMO, Roger is spot on.  In today’s environment, Trade Secrets tend to add more value than Intellectual Property.  I have authored a number of patents and developed many more trade secrets and have seen the benefits of both.

Fast innovation is a way to stay ahead of the competition.  There is a significant advantage of being a leader in the field as everyone else is trying to catch up and when they do, it is time to innovate again.

[Roger Caffin]

And of course, there is no such thing as the perfect stove, is there? :)

Cheers

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